Manufacture of breast-strap slides



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. L. HOWE.

MANUFACTURE OF BREAST STRAP SLIDES.

No. 441,842. Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

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U) m 2 m WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

, UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

EUGENE L. HOWE, OF CLEVELAND, OlllO.

MANUFACTURE OF BREAST-STRAP SLIDES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 441,812, dated December 2, 1890.

Application filed August 28, 1890. Serial No. 363,260. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EUGENE L. HOWE, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Breast- Strap Slides and in Apparatus Therefor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

lEreast-strap slides, for the manufacture of which my invention is designed, are of the general style and shape illustrated in Figure 1. The slide consists of a piece of metal bent transversely at the middle into bowed or arched form having slots 1) at the ends, through which the harness-straps may pass, and having lateral marginal flanges c, which are curved outwardly on the convex side of the article. The peculiar shape of this article renders it very difficult to make from malleable metal by ordinary practices of manufacture, so thatheretofore it has been deemed necessary for reasons of economy to make such articles by casting. The disadvantage of the cast article consists, principally, in .its undue weight and clumsiness of appearance. I have invented means and a method by which such articles can be made from sheet metal at a much less cost than that required in casting, and the article when produced by my method and apparatus is neater, lighter, and stronger than any similar article heretofore produced by the old method of casting.

I shall now describe my invention so that others skilled in the art may apply the same to use, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view of the finished article. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the blank from which the article is made. Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating the blank in its second stage of manufacture. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sec tion showing. the punch-dies by which the blank is cut and reduced to the condition illustrated in Fig. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lower punching-die, shown in Fig. 4:. Fig. 6

is a vertical sectional view of the bending and shaping dies by which the article is completed, the section being on the line VI VI of Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is an end elevation of these dies, the upper die being in section.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.

In practicing my invention I take a flat piece or strip of sheet metal, preferably sheet-steel, and out it into the shape shown in Fig. 2. I then form at the ends of this blank transverse slots or holes I). These holes may be formed by any suitable punching apparatus, either separately or simultaneously; but. as a convenient and rapid means of making both these holes at once I have in vented the punching apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This apparatus comprises two parts 2 and The part 2 is stationary and contains the female punches 4, 5, and 6, which are set and secured in suitable recesses therein. The cavities in the punches 4 and 5 correspond in shape and relative position to the slots 1) at the ends of the blank, and the cavity of the punch 6 is designed to form in the middle of the blank a small hole cl. The part is the moving punch-holder, which contains the male punches 7, 8, and 9, the punches 7 and 8 being counterparts of the punches l and 5 and adapted to enter the cavities therein,and the punch 9 having a similar relation to the punch 6. In the use of this apparatus I take the blank shown in Fig. 2 and introduce it laterally upon the surfaces of punches 4, 5, and 6, so that the margins of the blank shall be under and held by stripping-ribs 10. The punchholder 3 is then caused to descend to engage the blank and to punch out the holes Z) and (Z. The operation of these punches is very rapid; they are easy to construct and to keep in order and do not require skilled labor in their use. The next step in the manufacture is to bend and shape the blank in order to reduce it to its completed form. This I accomplish by means of the dies shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The lower die 11 has aworkii'ig-face of the arched form shown in Fig. 6, with raised and somewhat inclined fillets 12 at the sides, and is provided with lateral cheeks 13. At the ends of the working-face are diverging portions 15, which are adapted to receive the ends of the blank and to cause the spreading of the marginal ends of the slots 1), as hereinafter explained. The moving die 14 is provided on its working-face with a cavity which is the counterpart in reverse of the die 11. It is set at the end of a reciprocating plunger or holder.

In completing the breaststrap slide I take the-blank shown in Fig. 3, place it over the die 11, and cause the die 14 to descendupon it. The action of these dies upon the blank is such that the blank is bent transversely into the required arched form, its lateral margins are bent up at the fillets 12, and the ends of the blank being restrained by the portions 15 of the lower die trom being bent inwardly as much as the inner portions of the blank the ends of the slots 12 are spread so to lie in different planes. I thus produce the finished article shown in Fig. 1. In order that I may be enabled to use these dies for making breast-strap slides of different widths,- I prefer to construct each die of two parts, as shown in Fig. 7, which parts are connected by transverse bolts 16. In adjusting the diesfor making articles of greater width the boltsar'e' loosened, the sections are separated some what, liners are interposed between the sec: tions, and the bolts are retightened. V

Theadvantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. p It will he understood that the methods and apparatus which I have described are su's? ceptible of different mod i'fi'cajti'onswhich will suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic, and such modifications I intend to cover within the scope of my invention.

I claim- 1'. In the'manufactureof slidesfor harness straps, the improvement which consists in forming a metal blank with transverse slots at theend s and then bending'the blank transslides forharnssstm s, the combination of a die having'a convex working-face of arched contour, formed at its margin with outwardlyprojecting fillets and at its base with portions 15, adapted to engage the ends of the blank, and a second die which is the counterpart of the first-mentioned die, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In apparatus for the manufacture of a die havin'gaconvex working face of arched contour, and a second die which is the counterpart of the first-mentioned die, suhstanearly as and for thepurposes described.

4. In apparatus for the manufacture of slides for harness stra-ps, a compound punching device consisting in the combination of female punches 4 and 5, separated from each other a suitable distance to form holes at or In'ea'r the ends of the blank, and punches 7 ands. adapted to operate therewith, substantiall y and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set =m'y hand this th day of June, A. D. 1890.

EUGENE L. I-IOWE. \Vitne'sses':

ll/IARTIN O; SENSEN'Y, HENRY CLAUss, J r.

' slides for harness-straps, the combination of 

